KUALA LUMPUR, March 13 — Dengue fever has killed 74 victims up to March 7 this year, an increase of 105.6 per cent from the 36 fatal cases during the same period last year, said the Director-General of Health, Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.

He said 12 fatal cases were reported between March 1 and 7 in the country, with seven cases in Selangor, Perak (four) and Penang (one).

Dr Noor Hisham said 2,643 cases were recorded in the same week as compared to 2,656 cases the previous week.

“The cumulative cases from January to March 7 surged 44.3 per cent from 18,435 cases to 26,609 cases for the same period last year,” he said in a statement today.

He said 229 areas in Selangor were recorded as dengue active localities, followed by Perak (37), Sabah (three) and Penang and Pahang (one each).

Dr Noor Hisham also advised the people to maintain cleanliness and to destroy Aedes breeding grounds in their respective areas.

“Of the 102 construction sites that were inspected by ministry officers between February 10 and March 6, 87 sites or 85 per cent were found to be breeding mosquitoes,” he said. — Bernama